Ever since his arrival in 2014, President Giulini displayed plenty of ambitions for Cagliari but he has often been making the wrong choices and this season was no exception.
Having strengthened the squad over the summer, in particular acquiring Godin from Inter for the highest sum ever paid by the Sardinians, Giulini handed Eusebio Di Francesco the reins of the team. By itself, it would have not been a mistake but the coach did not seem to have recovered yet from his second year at Roma and his sacking at Sampdoria.
In fact, Cagliari started off decently, winning 3 out of the initial 7 games, but then literally collapsed and not even Nainggolan’s return from Inter in January helped them out. Between weeks 8 and 23 they became extremely weak, had serious troubles scoring, failing to hit the back of the net 7 times, and eventually lost 9 out of the last 10. That, and the fall to the bottom 3, were the last acts that cost Di Francesco his post.
Leonardo Semplici, who had made his name at SPAL, was hired instead and it did not take him long to get things going properly as he debuted with 2 consecutive wins and a draw. However, Cagliari had to face a new crisis as they lost the 4 games played between weeks 27 and 30.
Then, Semplici started relying more on youngsters like Deiola and Carboni, while also opting for a back 3 instead of the back 4 that had characterized most of Di Francesco’s tenure. Cagliari's renaissance started with an incredible 4-3 home win over Parma in injury time, despite being 3 goals down, and it was followed by 3 more wins and 3 draws, in particular away at Napoli and Milan, that brought the points needed for survival.
Cragno in goal, Nandez in the midfield and Joao Pedro, with his 16 goals and 3 assists, up-front were once again the heroes of the campaign while Nainggolan failed to leave his mark and Simeone was disappointing after a good start.
Cagliari have a good squad and should have never been involved in the fight against relegation but, if Giulini keeps making mistakes, and not confirming Semplici could be a new one, life will not be easy for them.
